


Stormy Days

by Illusion_Of_Sea_Axes



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 05:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illusion_Of_Sea_Axes/pseuds/Illusion_Of_Sea_Axes
Summary: Ace and Cloud find their usual roles reversed. And it's raining.





	Stormy Days

Ace was brewing a second pot of coffee when he heard the doorbell ring. For a moment, Ace was a bit confused. It was a downpour outside and it was starting to get dark. Why would anyone be ringing the doorbell.

Still, Ace maneuvered his way over to the door, nearly tripping over a comically small moving box as he did. When he opened the door, it took his brain a moment to process the person in front of him.

Cloud stood just outside, his long hair drenched but not tangled (Cloud had brushed it earlier that morning) and his hands tucked under his arms in what was possibly an attempt to maintain warmth or to appear smaller, Ace wasn’t entirely sure nor did he really care.

“Cloud, what the hell are you- get in here!” Ace pulled Cloud into the house by his arm, slamming the door shut behind him as he pushed Cloud over to a chair and grabbed a towel from one of the many movie boxes taking up the floor space of the apartment. 

All the while, he was muttering curses and cutting himself off mid-sentence with some Allied Kingdoms gibberish that Cloud usually would have chuckled at but instead remained staring somberly at the floor or the occasionally glance at Ace.

It was while Ace was trying to find a movable heater while muttering about hypothermia and colds that Cloud finally spoke.

 

“Derek broke up with me.”

 

Ace froze, turning to face Cloud who still stared at the floor, clutching the blanket tighter around himself.

 

“What?”

 

“H-He… Kicked me out… Said he didn’t… Didn’t want to see me again… That I wasn’t worth his time…” Ace walked over, not even bothering to pull up a chair. Cloud looked up at him. Ace finally noticed how red his eyes were.

 

“Did you walk all the way home?” Ace asked, somewhat in shock that Derek could even consider throwing someone like Cloud out of his life, and a little bit distant from trying to fully figure out the situation from his limited information.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What!? Bloody hell, why didn’t you call me!?”

 

“My phone was dead.” He muttered quietly, not seeming to react to Ace’s sudden exclamation. Usually he’d answer with something snarky, or tell him to calm down. Instead he studied his hands, clenched around the ends of the towel.

 

“For- For- Oh, Bloody hell.” Ace repeated, running a hand through his hair, pulling on his scalp. His hair was growing longer now and he had taken it out of the hair tie to appease a now-forgotten headache.

 

“What did I do wro-wrong?” Cloud asked, his voice choking up as his eyes welled up with tears.

 

“Hey! hey!” Ace protested, grabbing Cloud’s hands and softly unclasping them from the blankets.

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, alright?” Cloud did his best to blink away the tears, but they just rolled down his already-wet face instead.

 

“Y-You don’t kn-know that…” Ace frowned, trying to ignore the way his stomach knotted at the words ‘you don’t know.’ “You-You weren’t the one who-”

 

“Cloud, you are the best damn thing to ever happen to Derek and if he can’t see that, it’s his own fault. It’s not yours. You can’t make people see things like you do. Trust me, I’ve tried.” Cloud looked up this time at Ace.

 

“Look. You don’t need Derek, okay? You have me, we have this apartment, and our parents are just a ten minute drive away.” Ace wasn’t used to having to console people. He was mainly drawing from the many times Cloud had calmed him down from panic attacks or breakdowns.

 

“O-Okay… B-But… He… He doesn’t love me, Ace… I… I really thought he l-loved me.”

 

“Hey, hey.” Ace protested, softer. “You’re one of the most lovable people I know. Okay? Honestly, I’ll probably verbally whoop Derek’s ass tomorrow, but right now you don’t need to think about him. Okay?”

 

“O-Okay,” Cloud sniffed.

 

“How about… How about we get you a warm shower and some dry clothes? I do not intend to tend to you when you’re sick.” That was a lie. Judging from Cloud’s faint, signature lopsided smile, he knew too.

 

“Alright… Thanks...” Ace smiled and pulled Cloud off of the chair, finally releasing Cloud’s hands.


End file.
